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“Mommy, can we get some French fries?” asked my daughter as we drove past the massive granite monolith that is the McDonald’s store of La Castellana in Caracas. “There are no French fries in Venezuela, baby” sentenced my wife. My daughter’s eyes dampened like that was the saddest thing she ever heard. And perhaps it was.…

Less than a week after announcing an open tender for bids on security paper meant for printing Bs.50 and Bs.100 bills, the Venezuelan Central Bank (BCV), revealed that they are conducting a study on the merits of issuing a BsF. 500 banknote. That this realization is past-due would be an understatement: the graphic designs and printing sheet for…

On Tuesday evening, President Nicolás Maduro announced what in revolutionary newspeak is referred to as a sacudón (shake-up), otherwise known to the rest of the globe as cabinet reshuffle. The most noteworthy replacement happened in the Ministry of the Popular Power for Petroleum and Mining. Eulogio Del Pino, who is, and will continue to be, the chief of state oil company PDVSA, will be taking…

Somewhere between not publishing official economic data and overseeing a banknote printing frenzy on steroids, Venezuela’s Central Bank (BCV) still finds time for the mundane. According to this tweet from Bloomberg News correspondent Nathan Crooks, our maximum monetary authority just announced an open tender for the procurement of (and I’m not making this up) tuxedos for waiters. As in,…

There’s no doubt about it: The central government has a huge “bachaquero” problem, that is, thousands of people buying regulated goods and reselling them at black market prices to make ends meet. Instead of attacking the roots of this problem, that is, the spectacular price distortions that make waiting in line one of the most lucrative jobs…

Non-reading TSJ magistrates and Central Bank economist can rest easy, thanks to Nelson Bocaranda´s feature of Anabella and Barbara´s open letter to the TSJ in his prime-time radio show today. Maybe TSJ folks just needed our request in audio format to get the memo. Yeah, that´s probably it. Listen in to Anabella´s on-point interview, which…